​The Wake County Child Care Subsidy Program provides financial assistance to parents for their child care needs. The child care subsidy is based on an assessment of need, income and family size. Each county receives an annual allocation of state and federal funds used for subsidized child care services for its residents. Wake County also receives funding from the Wake County Smart Start Program. We provide information about choosing and using quality child care. Local money for child care scholarships is received from the Wake for Kids Fund, which is provided by the Let's Get to Work Program.​

​Child Care Provider Selection is based on parental choice. Parental fees are assessed for families who are income eligible.

Waiting List

If Wake County Human Services does not have enough funding to serve all families who apply for subsidized child care, the families can apply to be placed on a waiting list until funding becomes available.

The current waiting list has been in place since December 2016. Anyone can apply for the waiting list by contacting Wake County Human Services at 919-212-7052. Families will be contacted via email or letter when funding becomes available. It is critical that all families keep their contact information updated! This can be done by calling 919-212-7052.

The social and economic future of NC depends upon the success of our children. To that end, we at the NC Division of Child Development implement quality standards, increase access for families, and collaborate to promote enhanced service delivery of care and education across the state.

The Division is the result of a longstanding commitment by the state of North Carolina to protect and serve its young children. The mission of the Division is performed by various organizational units that work together, each sharing in the overall responsibility of the agency.

Wake County SmartStart– Wake County SmartStart is a nonprofit organization with the mission to ensure children in Wake County, birth to age five, are prepared for success in school and in life. Officially formed in 1996, Wake County SmartStart works to improve the quality, accessibility and affordability of child care, provide preventive health and early intervention services and offer family support services.

Together, community volunteers, staff members, child care providers, schools, organizations and local businesses all strive to realize SmartStart's mission and build a strong foundation for children's learning and development beginning at birth.

Wake County SmartStart is guided by a set of core values. These core values define what is important to us as an organization and are the basic elements of how we go about our work. Our core values affect how we interact not only with our community's children and families, but also with each other.

Let's Get to Workis a collaborative community initiative to help people overcome barriers to obtain and maintain a good job. Caring and responsible citizens, businesses and institutions can provide financial assistance to those needing affordable child care, public transportation, or legal counsel to stabilize their employment by giving to Let's Get to Work.